(Above photo: Loon Count Day photo by Bruce Small)
It’s early in the morning. It’s foggy. Humidity is high. But you’re an Annual Loon Count volunteer, so you drink your coffee, you pick up your binoculars, you straighten the papers on your clipboard, and you take to the lakes!
Sometimes the skies are clear and blue and the waters are calm, but sometimes it’s foggy, windy, and humid. That’s how it was this year for Maine Audubon’s 43rd Annual Loon Count on July 18. Despite the weather, a record-high number of volunteers were poised with their binoculars and ready to count loons by 7 am.
Some of these volunteers have participated since the count began in 1983, some had multiple generations of Loon Counters on their boats, and for some it was their first, exciting year joining the project. For the 2026 Loon Count, 1,861 volunteers surveyed on 438 lakes statewide—more volunteers participating and lakes surveyed than ever before!
Maine Audubon then takes the data that all these volunteers collect, and creates a population estimate for southern Maine (south of the 45th parallel, which has enough lakes covered to estimate reliably) using the same protocol since the first year of the Loon Count in 1983. These estimates allow us to monitor and track trends in the population over the decades.
This year, we estimate a 2026 population of 2,770 adults and 276 chicks. Although these estimates are lower than last year, we don’t feel it’s a cause for concern. With long-term studies like the Annual Loon Count, we’re more focused on trends over time rather than the individual estimates each year.
Many factors can go into fluctuating estimates. This year, for example, a number of counters reported fog and windy conditions during the survey window. Additionally, in some parts of the state, smoke from Canadian wildfires was still moving through. These and other environmental conditions may have made it harder for counters to observe loons, especially small chicks.
For many counters, there were no chicks yet to count, as the loons were still on the nest and chicks wouldn’t hatch until the following weeks. Our Loon Pair Monitoring project also saw instances of delayed nesting or loons over-incubating the eggs in their first nest. All of these reasons may play a part in explaining the lower estimates for southern Maine this year.
Historically, we expect to see yearly variation in the population estimates which is why we’re more focused on the trends over several years. Additionally, while some loon pairs might successfully raise chicks year after year, some pairs will only fledge chicks every other year or every few years which still allows for maintaining a healthy statewide population.
We’ll continue monitoring the population with next year’s Annual Loon Count and with our Loon Pair Monitoring project throughout the 2027 season. With high estimates the last two years and lower estimates this year, the next few years will allow us to truly understand what trends we’re seeing in the adult and chick populations. We still believe the loon population is healthy in Maine and it’s important to remember that the population does not need to grow each year to be a stable, healthy population. However, a year like this highlights the importance of supporting long-term monitoring efforts. Without historical data to compare estimates to, we wouldn’t be able to track population trends as closely, and get ahead of any potential threats to the loon population. Thank you to all of our current and past volunteers who have made this important conservation effort possible! If you’re interested in seeing the Loon Count data over time and for individual lakes, you can explore it here.
Although our population estimates are only for southern Maine, we have many dedicated volunteers who count loons in northern Maine. We cannot confidently provide population estimates for northern Maine until we have a higher proportion of lakes surveyed. However, this year volunteers counted on 125 northern lakes (steadily increasing each year!) and observed 515 adults and 40 chicks. We also had a handful of intrepid “extended duration” volunteers who for the second year in a row participated in a new project that allows them a week-long window to survey remote lakes that lack easy boat access. They observed 53 adult loons and 3 chicks. A special thanks to all of these volunteers for helping us gain more information about loons north of the 45th parallel! If you’re in northern Maine and are interested in participating next year, please contact us at conserve@maineaudubon.org.
As always, the Annual Loon Count would not be possible without the 1,800+ volunteers who participated and the 40+ volunteer coordinators who play a large role in helping us organize volunteers and data. A huge thank you to everyone!
We also saw increased volunteer participation in our Loon Pair Monitoring project and Look Out for Loons outreach program, both which play important roles in helping us monitor the population and educate the public about loon-friendly practices. If you’re interested in increasing your involvement past the Annual Loon Count or learning more about our loon conservation efforts, visit maineaudubon.org/loons.
